The Story of Us
Who Does the Platform Serve?
The College X Change currently serves the Harvard student body. As of now, only those with an @college.harvard.edu email can register for the account. My goal is to test the platform here at Harvard, and given that there is some success, I’ll expand the service to other colleges and universities. I want there to be a direction connection among students when it comes to selling and purchasing college essentials. There should be more options for students when stores are selling books, furniture, and more for extreme prices. I’ve found that students often want to let go of their long-held books, fashion items, posters, and more as they progress throughout their college career. Especially when students become seniors, there are a lot of items that they want to either sell or give away. The College X Change will help foster a community around this situation and help connect students more efficiently.How Does it Help the Sense of Belonging with Others?
A student may gain a greater sense of belonging by using the College X Change because everyone has something that another wants. We’ve all been in a situation where we purchased a book for that one class that we’ll never use again. Currently, in order to get rid of it, one goes through different means of contacting college email lists, Facebook groups, GroupMes, and so forth. With the College X Change there is a level of standardization that may help students maximize their reach within the student body. Through my experience as a student, my peers tend to contact others in their respective clubs and organizations for resources. This is extremely limiting, for there is an entire student population that is being neglected through this process. The College X Change seeks to form connections and relationships with students who wouldn’t generally meet together. Creating a space for these initial face-to-face interactions is the first step to any meaningful friendship.How Does it Impact the Outer Community?
The current plan with the College X Change is to grow the platform at Harvard. Through Module II, I will determine the need for a standardized student commerce platform on other campuses. I want to understand the culture of exchanging goods among other college student bodies. My hypothesis is that students from other universities exchange with each other akin to those at Harvard. Every college environment is unique and should have a platform dedicated to its nuances. Different universities would have their own variation of the College X Change, one that is suited to their experiences. The goal is to potentially allow for students from different universities to connect with each other, but that model would have to be tested.The Story of Us:
I bring together student leaders of various Harvard organizations and converse regarding numerous topics: such as their opinion on the current exchanging culture on campus, if a peer-to-peer exchange is needed, how can the College X Change increase student interaction and engagement, and more. Here are a few main takeaways from these conversations:In your opinion, what is the current culture of buying and selling college essentials on campus:
"I think the current culture on campus right now is kind of scattered....there's no real standardized way to know what everyone is in need of" (Janae, President of the Association of Black Harvard Women).
"The Facebook Free and For Sale is pretty disorganized, a lot of times you don't find what you necessarily need" (Meyling, Social Chair of the First Generation Students' Union).
"I don't think it's that visible, I'm not sure if it's really strong at all" (Myles, Social Chair of the Harvard Black Men's Forum).
Do you think there is a general need for college students to exchange with each other:
"As a college student, not many of us have expendable cash. The book stores and home good stores in the Square are more expensive than what is necessarily in most people's budgets. Peer-to-peer is probably the best way to get things" (Janae, President of the Association of Black Harvard Women).
"I think with the continued increase of college tuition and college expenses, students are looking for ways to cut prices. If students are willing to sell their books, textbooks, or dorm furniture at discounted prices I think students would take advantage of that" (Hasani, President of the Harvard Black Students' Association).
How do you think the College X Change can increase student interaction and engagement, along with access to college essentials on campus?
"It's a much more organized way of selling things on campus rather than going on something as hectic as the Free and For Sale Facebook page" (Meyling, Social Chair of the First Generation Students' Union)
"It definitely has the potential to localize and make people more aware of the buying and selling culture on campus" (Myles, Social Chair of the Harvard Black Men's Forum).
"It makes sense. People are already doing it, just giving students a way to do it easier" (Awa, Vice President of the Harvard Black Men's Forum).
